What music do you listen to when you’re in the car for hours?
What music do you listen to when you’re in the car for hours?
Every summer, families across America pack into cars and go on roadtrips. Hosts Steve Inskeep and Leila Fadel offer what they blast on their speakers to make the drive less stressful.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
So, Leila, I know you've had a chance to travel a little bit already this summer.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Yes.
INSKEEP: In a few weeks, a couple weeks, my family's going to be on a road trip driving around the Midwest. And our staff was talking about what people do to kill time on a road trip, what they listen to. So what are your thoughts?
FADEL: Well, first of all, I don't like road trips...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
FADEL: ...Because I'm a are we there yet type of person. I was the very annoying child in my family. So I love music on a road trip, everything from, like, Janet Jackson to Saweetie to Shakira to, like, George Wassouf, who's a super famous Lebanese singer.
INSKEEP: Oh, cool.
FADEL: Like, I like something upbeat, too, to keep me awake. So I do a lot of Arabic music because it's, like, a lot of drums.
INSKEEP: Oh, I bet that's great. Yeah.
FADEL: It's really fun. And now there's a lot of crossover.
INSKEEP: You mean it's, like, kind of traditional, but also pop.
FADEL: Modern, yeah. They're trying to break into world music, and I'm loving it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAMA EH")
ELYANNA: (Singing in Arabic).
FADEL: But then I have to do, like, a serialized podcast, like, a story. Otherwise I can't keep my attention or stay awake.
INSKEEP: Yeah, yeah.
FADEL: And then when I'm out of options, I call my mom and we just talk.
INSKEEP: Really?
FADEL: Yeah.
INSKEEP: Does she yell at you to make sure you're hands-free?
FADEL: Yeah, we're hands-free, and then we just chat.
INSKEEP: OK.
FADEL: What about you? What do you do?
INSKEEP: Well, I mean, when I get the opportunity to choose the music, which is not often...
FADEL: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: I will pick music that somehow fits the geography that I am in. We were in California some months ago, and I turned on the Eagles because it makes me think of Southern California.
FADEL: I love that.
INSKEEP: We were in Colorado, and I was listening to the Lumineers, this Denver-based band. And there are also weird choices that come over me when I'm overseas. I have this memory - I realize this is not a universal experience - but during the Iraq War, driving around some part of Iraq and listening to Louis Armstrong.
FADEL: That's an interesting one. He's definitely not - he didn't come from Baghdad.
INSKEEP: No, no, no, not from Baghdad.
FADEL: No (laughter).
INSKEEP: But there was something about being an American in a very, very different place, at a very, very strange time...
FADEL: Yeah.
INSKEEP: ...That "Mack The Knife" felt like an appropriate thing to be playing while going through Kirkuk.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MACK THE KNIFE")
LOUIS ARMSTRONG: (Singing) Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear. And he shows them pearly white.
INSKEEP: But I got to be honest. I mean, there're kids in the car if I'm traveling with the family, and so they're going to make, you know, 90% of the...
FADEL: How do you - they make the choices?
INSKEEP: They just win, they just win.
FADEL: So there's a lot of Taylor Swift is what you're telling me. Your road trip...
INSKEEP: Oh, my gosh, yes. Absolutely.
FADEL: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: Or, you know, just the hit music radio, you know?
FADEL: Actually, yeah, your daughters and I would get along. I like hit music radio.
INSKEEP: Oh.
FADEL: I'll come on your road trips (laughter).
INSKEEP: Oh, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CRUEL SUMMER")
TAYLOR SWIFT: (Singing) So cut the headlights, summer's a knife. I'm always waiting for you just to cut to the bone.
FADEL: But actually, Steve, we only listen to NPR podcasts and NPR News shows.
INSKEEP: Right.
FADEL: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CRUEL SUMMER")
SWIFT: (Singing) Oh, it's new, the shape of your body. It's blue, the feeling...
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